Waxing Faith

“Thus all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.” – Genesis 5:5

Day five will take us on a journey through time that will leave us stunned.

Today’s March Through History

Genesis 5 gives us the genealogy from Adam to Noah, a sobering list of lives and deaths spanning centuries. Joshua 5 shows Israel’s circumcision and first Passover in the Promised Land after forty years of wilderness wandering. Job 5 presents Eliphaz’s second speech, mixing truth with error about God’s ways. Psalm 5 reveals David’s morning prayer for guidance and protection from enemies. Proverbs 5 warns against the seductive dangers of adultery and unfaithfulness. Isaiah 5 delivers the parable of the vineyard and pronounces woes on rebellious Israel. Matthew 6 contains the Lord’s Prayer and Jesus’ teaching on authentic discipleship. Acts 5 records Ananias and Sapphira’s deception and the apostles’ continued boldness. Romans 5 explains how grace abounds through Christ where sin abounded through Adam. 1 Thessalonians 5 calls believers to live as children of light awaiting Christ’s return.

Ten chapters spanning millennia of human history.

But as I read them together, one truth emerged with overwhelming clarity: God doesn’t work just through individuals. He works through generations, weaving His purposes across centuries with patience that defies human understanding.

The Sobering March of Death

Genesis 5 hit me hard this morning.

Nine times the phrase “and he died” appears in this chapter. Seth lived 912 years, and he died. Enosh lived 905 years, and he died. Kenan lived 910 years, and he died.

The repetition is relentless, sobering, final.

I’ll admit. It made me pause and actually think of my own mortality in my mid-50s.

But here’s what captured my attention. Nestled in this catalog of death is this remarkable note about Enoch: “Enoch walked with God. And he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:24). No “and he died” for Enoch. In the middle of death’s universal reign, God provides an exception, a preview of something better coming.

Romans 5 gave me the theological key to understanding this pattern. “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). Adam’s disobedience brought death to every generation listed in Genesis 5. Death reigns from Adam to Moses, from Seth to Noah, from generation to generation.

But Paul doesn’t stop there.

“But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many” (Romans 5:15).

Where death reigned through Adam, grace reigns through Christ.

Scripture interpreting Scripture with breathtaking clarity.

John Calvin understood this connection: “As by Adam’s fall we were made subject to death, so by Christ’s righteousness we recover life.”

Genesis 5 shows us the problem spanning generations. Romans 5 shows us the solution spanning eternity.

The God Who Sanctifies Generations

Joshua 5 revealed another dimension of God’s generational work.

The men of Israel had not been circumcised during their wilderness wandering. Now, before entering battle, God commands Joshua to circumcise the entire generation. “At that time Yahweh said to Joshua, ‘Make for yourself flint knives and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time’” (Joshua 5:2).

This wasn’t just about ritual compliance. This was about covenant identity passing from one generation to the next. The fathers who left Egypt had been circumcised, but their sons born in the wilderness had not received the sign of the covenant. God doesn’t forget about generations. He sanctifies them, marks them, claims them as His own.

The connection to Matthew 6 struck me powerfully.

Jesus teaches His disciples to pray, “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name” (Matthew 6:9).

This isn’t just individual prayer.

This is generational prayer.

Our Father, not just my Father.

The same covenant God who marked Israel’s children in Joshua 5 now invites His children from every generation to call Him Father.

Richard Sibbes captured this beautifully: “God delights to be styled by his relation to his people.” He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is our Father. The generational covenant continues through Christ.

When Truth Mixes with Error

Job 5 presented a troubling contrast to this theme of generational grace.

Eliphaz speaks with the confidence of received wisdom: “For man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). He’s not wrong about human nature’s tendency toward trouble. The genealogy in Genesis 5 proves that. Death reigns from Adam onward.

But then Eliphaz overreaches: “As for me, I would seek God, and I would place my cause before God” (Job 5:8). He assumes that right seeking guarantees good outcomes, that proper approach to God prevents suffering.

He’s mixing truth about human nature with error about divine purposes.

This connected powerfully with Isaiah 5’s parable of the vineyard. God planted Israel like a choice vineyard, expecting good grapes but finding only worthless ones. “What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?” (Isaiah 5:4).

Here’s the generational truth Eliphaz missed. God’s covenant faithfulness doesn’t guarantee that every generation will respond rightly. Israel proves this. The genealogy in Genesis 5 proves this.

Even God’s careful cultivation can be met with rebellion.

Thomas Watson understood this sobering reality: “God may cast off particular persons for their sins, but he will not cast off his church.” Generations may fail, but God’s purposes endure across generations.

The Discipline of Authentic Faith

Acts 5 shows how seriously God takes authenticity across generations.

Ananias and Sapphira lie about their giving, and divine judgment falls swiftly. “And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things” (Acts 5:11).

This wasn’t arbitrary harshness. This was God protecting the integrity of His church for future generations. If deception were allowed to take root in the church’s infancy, what would happen to the generations that followed?

Matthew 6 explains the heart attitude God desires. “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret. And your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:3-4). Authentic generosity done for God’s eyes alone, not human applause.

The contrast is stark.

Ananias and Sapphira gave for human recognition while claiming divine dedication. Jesus calls for giving that seeks only divine recognition. God disciplines one pattern and rewards the other because He’s building something that will last across generations.

Wisdom That Spans the Ages

Proverbs 5 brought the generational theme home with urgent practical wisdom. “For the lips of an adulteress drip honey and smoother than oil is her speech. But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword” (Proverbs 5:3-4).

This isn’t just moral instruction for one person. This is generational wisdom. The father who speaks these words has learned from experience and observation. He’s passing hard-won truth to his son, who will (hopefully) pass it to his son.

But notice how this connects to the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6. “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13a).

The same God who inspired generational wisdom about temptation in Proverbs 5 teaches us to pray for protection from temptation in Matthew 6.

John Owen taught: “Temptation is like a knife that may either cut the meat or the throat of a man; it may be his food or his poison, his exercise or his destruction.”

Proverbs 5 shows us the knife’s potential for destruction. Matthew 6 teaches us to pray for God’s protection from that destruction.

The Dawn of Eternal Day

1 Thessalonians 5 brought today’s generational theme to its glorious conclusion. “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief. For you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5).

Paul writes to an entire generation of believers, calling them “sons of light.” But notice the generational implications. They are sons of light because Christ has come. Previous generations waited in darkness for the light. This generation lives in the light. Future generations will inherit that same light.

The genealogy that began in Genesis 5 with Adam and death reaches its destination in 1 Thessalonians 5 with Christ and life. Where Romans 5 explained the theological transition from Adam to Christ, 1 Thessalonians 5 describes the practical reality of living as Christ’s generation.

Psalm 5 captures the heart posture this requires. “But let all who take refuge in You be glad. Let them ever sing for joy, and may You shelter them, that those who love Your name may exult in You” (Psalm 5:11).

This is generational joy, the gladness of those who know they belong to the generation of light.

The Patient Love of God

As I finished today’s reading, I was overwhelmed by the patience of God’s love.

Genesis 5 chronicles nearly 1,700 years of human history from Adam to Noah. Generation after generation lived and died while God’s plan slowly unfolded.

Enoch walked with God and was taken. Noah found grace in God’s eyes. Abraham would be called. Isaac would be born. Jacob would be renamed Israel. Joseph would preserve the family. Moses would deliver the nation. David would establish the kingdom. And finally, in the fullness of time, Christ would come.

Charles Spurgeon captured this divine patience perfectly: “God is never in a hurry, but he is never too late.” Every generation in Genesis 5 lived out their part in God’s unfolding plan. Every death moved history one step closer to the Cross. Every birth brought the promise one generation nearer to fulfillment.

The God revealed in today’s ten chapters works through individuals, but His vision spans generations. He plants vineyards knowing some will produce bad fruit. He establishes covenants knowing some will break them. He builds churches knowing some will be tested by deception. He calls people to authentic discipleship knowing many will choose hypocrisy.

But His purposes endure. His grace abounds. His light shines. And those who walk with Him like Enoch, who take refuge in Him like David, who call Him Father like Jesus taught, become part of the generational story of grace that spans from Adam to the Second Adam and beyond.

Thomas Brooks was right: “God’s love is like himself, without beginning, without change, without end.” Today’s reading showed me that love working patiently across generations, and I’m amazed to be part of the story.

How does seeing God’s work across generations change your perspective on your own place in His plan? What generational wisdom are you receiving from Scripture and passing on to others?